The mathematical genius Alan Turing (1912-1954) was one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century. Now well known for his crucial wartime role in breaking the ENIGMA code, he was ...
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The mathematical genius Alan Turing (1912-1954) was one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century. Now well known for his crucial wartime role in breaking the ENIGMA code, he was the first to conceive of the fundamental principle of the modern computer — the idea of controlling a computing machine's operations by means of coded instructions, stored in the machine's ‘memory’. In 1945, Turing drew up his revolutionary design for an electronic computing machine — his Automatic Computing Engine (‘ACE’). A pilot model of the ACE ran its first programme in 1950 and the production version, the ‘DEUCE’, went on to become a cornerstone of the fledgling British computer industry. The first ‘personal’ computer was based on Turing's ACE. This book describes Turing's struggle to build the modern computer. It contains first-hand accounts by Turing and by the pioneers of computing who worked with him. The book describes the hardware and software of the ACE and contains chapters describing Turing's path-breaking research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (A-Life).Less

Published in print: 2005-04-14

The mathematical genius Alan Turing (1912-1954) was one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century. Now well known for his crucial wartime role in breaking the ENIGMA code, he was the first to conceive of the fundamental principle of the modern computer — the idea of controlling a computing machine's operations by means of coded instructions, stored in the machine's ‘memory’. In 1945, Turing drew up his revolutionary design for an electronic computing machine — his Automatic Computing Engine (‘ACE’). A pilot model of the ACE ran its first programme in 1950 and the production version, the ‘DEUCE’, went on to become a cornerstone of the fledgling British computer industry. The first ‘personal’ computer was based on Turing's ACE. This book describes Turing's struggle to build the modern computer. It contains first-hand accounts by Turing and by the pioneers of computing who worked with him. The book describes the hardware and software of the ACE and contains chapters describing Turing's path-breaking research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (A-Life).

This chapter explores the concept of computer memory by taking into consideration the previous theories, analogies, views, and works of various philosophers, scientists, and researchers. The ...
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This chapter explores the concept of computer memory by taking into consideration the previous theories, analogies, views, and works of various philosophers, scientists, and researchers. The differentiation between human and machine memories helps to explain the historical background and the requirement of the computer memory. The later parts of the chapter provide a discussion on the general and basic concepts of computer memory and the application areas. The main purpose of the chapter is to discuss how the previous metaphors affected the computer memory concept.Less

Memory

Warren Sack

Published in print: 2008-04-18

This chapter explores the concept of computer memory by taking into consideration the previous theories, analogies, views, and works of various philosophers, scientists, and researchers. The differentiation between human and machine memories helps to explain the historical background and the requirement of the computer memory. The later parts of the chapter provide a discussion on the general and basic concepts of computer memory and the application areas. The main purpose of the chapter is to discuss how the previous metaphors affected the computer memory concept.

This chapter focuses on the growing technical concerns about the best design for FULCRUM. Although Itek worked hard on developing a camera to satisfy the CIA's requirement, on its own initiative, it ...
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This chapter focuses on the growing technical concerns about the best design for FULCRUM. Although Itek worked hard on developing a camera to satisfy the CIA's requirement, on its own initiative, it had simultaneously been working on other technical solutions that would meet the agency's intelligence objectives equally well. The forces of history were pulling control of the nation's satellite reconnaissance program away from the CIA. The FULCRUM proposal, with a much wider scan angle than Itek's Corona cameras, promised a significant degradation of the image as the camera moved off-axis. Itek understood that one of the requirements for FULCRUM was to obtain the program's intelligence objectives within a mission of no more than four days. In the aftermath of FULCRUM, the success of Itek's commercial operations was more important to the company's future. If Itek's new RS technology and its memory-centered computers fulfilled their promise, the company's future would still be bright.Less

FULCRUM

Jonathan E. Lewis

Published in print: 2002-03-11

This chapter focuses on the growing technical concerns about the best design for FULCRUM. Although Itek worked hard on developing a camera to satisfy the CIA's requirement, on its own initiative, it had simultaneously been working on other technical solutions that would meet the agency's intelligence objectives equally well. The forces of history were pulling control of the nation's satellite reconnaissance program away from the CIA. The FULCRUM proposal, with a much wider scan angle than Itek's Corona cameras, promised a significant degradation of the image as the camera moved off-axis. Itek understood that one of the requirements for FULCRUM was to obtain the program's intelligence objectives within a mission of no more than four days. In the aftermath of FULCRUM, the success of Itek's commercial operations was more important to the company's future. If Itek's new RS technology and its memory-centered computers fulfilled their promise, the company's future would still be bright.